Corporate Buyout of US Elections & How to Stop It
Yesterday the Supreme Court reversed a hundred years of legal opinion and decisions and threw open the door to unlimited campaign contributions by corporations, trade associations and unions. This morning, National Public Radio and others are carrying the story as the digital equivalent of a banner headline, and alot of people are stirred up, either for or against. In any case, it is an historic ruling, one that overturn a century of legal precident and (not incidentally) the majority of reforms that have been proposed or passed over the past ten years - notably McCain-Feingold.
The concern is, of course, that power corrupts and money corrupts absolutely. There is plenty of data showing that candidates who spend the most, win the election. The entire basis for reform is to make it more difficult for vested economic forces (e.g., business, trade associations, unions, as well as individuals) to “buy influence” - a euphemism for buying votes of various members of Congress who become beholden to entities who underwrite their elections and re-elections. That way lies corruption of the U.S. democratic process - the same process invoked by the Court when citing freedom of speech for corporate entities vis-a-vis campaign contribution law.
This morning, Coolslap went looking for data about the influence of large campaign contributions. Data are hard to find (and we didn’t look long). But it stands to reason that the only - and I do mean ONLY - reason that large contributions are allowed to drive election results is that the U.S. voting populace lets them - because it’s easier to watch TV ads and vote accordingly than it is to learn about the issues, read candidate platforms, research voting records, investigate who is underwriting a candidate, and consider the big picture of the U.S. democratic process.
The really sad thing about this is that for those who have access to the internet it’s just not that hard to participate knowledgeably. Other groups who actually do give a damn about the process have done alot of the work for us. The League of Women Voters aggregates much of the information described above and makes it available - for free - for every national election. The Annenberg Public Policy folks run FactCheck.org. Their goal, as described on their website, is to provide information “for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics”. They are nonpartisan and follow U.S. politics 365/24/7, not just during Presidential or key Congressional elections.
As a country with the privilege of voting that others have died for (our own military as well as reformers and political activists around the world), we’re get what we deserve - and we’re a disgrace. If we choose not to participate - if we allow large entities with deep pockets to tell us what to do - then they’re going to be able to buy any election they choose.
But there is a solution. There really is. Get off your ass, get your head in the game, and VOTE.
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